Contrasting Vaginal Bacterial Communities Between Estrus and Non-estrus of Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).

Chanjuan Yue,Xiaoyan Su,Rong Hou,Dongsheng Zhang,Lin Li,Suizhong Cao,Yuliang Liu,Yunli Li,Songrui Liu,Zeshuai Deng,Xueyang Fan,Xiaoping Ma,Xue Luo,Xia Yan,Junhui An

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.707548

Abstract

Bacterial infection and imbalance of bacterial community in the genitourinary system of giant panda could affect the reproductive health. In severe cases, it can also lead to abortion. In this study, 13 of vaginal secretions in the estrue (E) group and seven of vaginal secretions in the non-estrue (NE) group were used to study the composition and diversity of vaginal bacterial communities between estrus and non-estrus by 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. The results showed that the vaginal microbiome in giant pandas shared the same top five abundant species between estrus and non-estrus at the phylum level. However, the vaginal microbiome changed significantly during estrus at the genus level. In top 10 genera, the abundance of Escherichia, Streptococcus, and Bacteroides in the E group was significantly higher than that in the NE group (p<0.05); Azomonas, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Campylobacter, and Peptoniphilus in the NE group was significantly higher than that in the E group (p<0.05). The richness and diversity of vaginal microbiome in giant panda on estrus were significantly lower than those on non-estrus (p<0.05). It is noteworthy that the abundance of Streptococcus, Escherichia, and Bacteroides of vagina in giant pandas maintained low abundance in the daily. Whereas, they increased significantly during estrus period, which may play an important role in female giant pandas during estrus period. It was hypothesized that hormones may be responsible for the changes in the vaginal microbiome of giant pandas between estrus and no-estrus stages.

Highlights

The community of microorganisms associated with the host have been shown to affect physiology, immunity and metabolism (Smith and Ravel, 2017)
All of the curves were flat and the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was close to saturation (Figure 1A), indicating that the sequencing depth was sufficient to cover all species in the microbiome community
The total numbers of OTUs obtained was 969, among which 286 OTUs were shared by both groups, 300 and 383 OTUs were uniquely identified in the E and the NE groups, respectively (Figure 1B)

Summary

Introduction

The community of microorganisms associated with the host have been shown to affect physiology, immunity and metabolism (Smith and Ravel, 2017). Giant Pandas Vaginal Bacterial Communities bacteria maybe implicated in genital tract infections, even can result in reproductive failure (Stumpf et al, 2013; Payne and Bayatibojakhi, 2014). It is important to study the composition of bacterial microbiome and compare the diversity of bacterial communities of the giant panda’s vagina on estrus and non-estrus, which may aid in the prevention and treatment of genital tract infections and negative pregnancy outcomes. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), as a flagship species for wildlife conservation, is a national treasure in China and well-known in the world (Peng et al, 2007). The genital health is crucial to the giant panda breeding, which is the key to keep population growth, the research of genital tract cannot be ignored

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